MARK Butcher believes England can overturn both short-term and long-term history on their forthcoming West Indies tour.

MARK Butcher believes England can overturn both short-term and long-term history on their forthcoming West Indies tour.

They will have to revert a poor recent record overseas, having won just one of five series since they beat Sri Lanka in 2001 against whipping-boys Bangladesh last autumn.

And they have not triumphed in the Caribbean for 36 years, a stretch of six series, five of which have been lost.

"Touring is a difficult business; not a lot of sides win on the road and that is because it is so hard to do," said Butcher, 31, ahead of flying to Jamaica on Wednesday.

"On most tours you get only a couple of opportunities to forge an advantage and we haven't done that on recent trips.

"We should have won in New Zealand two years ago and did not follow it through, Australia did not give us a chance last winter and we could not make the most of an opportunity in Sri Lanka before Christmas after holding on for two Tests."

Surrey batsman Butcher is one of only three tourists to have played Test cricket in the Caribbean - Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe are the others - and returns in the belief that England can match the exploits of Colin Cowdrey's 1967-68 tourists.

Horrendous

In fact, England have won only four matches since, including a tense success on the last tour when the out-of-form Butcher dealt with an horrendous run of form to hold his nerve.

"Winning that match in Trinidad was a major event as far as all our players were concerned," Butcher reflected.

"Winning Test matches in the Caribbean is a huge achievement and I don't think that lessens it as an achievement because their side are not as good as they were in the past."

But the recent decline of the former kings of world cricket, including another comprehensive defeat in South Africa, has led to optimism ahead of the third leg of the winter schedule.

"It's been very encouraging seeing what has happened to them, they look like a side which is there for the taking," claimed Butcher.

"Having said that, on their own islands and in front of their own fans, they do tend to play with more pride and heart so to think we are going to go over there and roll them over is wide of the mark.

Proud

"They are a proud cricketing nation and they will up their performances.

"We just know that if we play well we will have a great chance of beating them."

England went down 3-1 in 1997-98, coming out on top in the second of back-to-back contests in Port-of-Spain after the first Test in Jamaica was abandoned just 10.1 overs in because of a treacherous surface.

Both matches were low-scoring affairs: in fact, England should have already been 1-0 ahead but failed to dismiss the hosts after they were reduced to 124 for five, chasing 282.

They kept their composure in what was the third Test of the series - effectively the second - thanks to Butcher's painstaking 24 not out, from 135 deliveries, at number six.

Butcher recalled: "It was red-hot for two weeks and it seemed like we were playing for the whole two weeks, which we literally were.

"Both Tests were very tight and I was tense and tired by the end.

"From a personal point of view that tour was not a good one, I didn't play very well.

Established

"I wasn't in the side when we first got there and I ended up in the team for the first Test match 20 minutes before the start. It lasted only an hour but there was still time for me to get a first-baller!" Butcher, who has Jamaican ancestry on his mother's side, feels in different shape these days, however, having become an established figure in the top order.

He played in all 13 Tests during 2003, hitting three centuries among his 979 runs and taking his average above 35 for the first time in his top-level career in the process.

And despite recurring knee trouble, the Surrey southpaw aims to be around for a time yet, having bought into England's new fitness regime.

Former Crystal Palace manager Steve Kember, a long-time family friend, put him through his paces in the weeks after Christmas at local football club Old Midwhitgiftians.

"He's been pushing me hard but, to be honest, it has been quite good fun," Butcher said.

"We are now doing much more than we have ever done before fitness-wise, there is even a big difference to a year ago.